Day of Infamy
by Irish Rose1
Summary: An early morning reunion is interrupted


Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I wasn't happy with what happened to them in the movie so I wrote an alternate storyline. In short, Danny and Evelyn never become involved. You can review any of my stories if you like, but I'm not changing a thing.

Summary: An early morning reunion is interrupted.

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Evelyn stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched Rafe make the bed. He ran his hand over the spread, but she didn't see that. She saw a tall, lean form with sandy brown hair packaged very nicely in an air corps uniform.

Rafe seemed to sense her observation of him and looked over his shoulder. His smile was one of pure happiness as he asked, "What are you lookin' at?"

She laughed and moved behind him to put her arms around his waist. "It wasn't **what** I was looking at, but **who **I was looking at. And that would be you, Rafe McCawley." 

He covered her arms with his own and sighed. "I wish we had more time, because you are makin' it very difficult to leave. But I need to see Danny and let him know I'm okay." He took one of her hands and kissed it. "I love you so much." 

She laid her cheek against his back and answered, "I love you so much, too. And you're making it very difficult for **me**, so we'd better go." And she pulled her arms from around him. 

He stopped her for a moment, "I really do wish we had more time."

"I know, me too." 

He kissed her hand again and let her step back. He walked over to the desk and got his jacket from the back of the chair. He slipped his arms into the sleeves, but before he could button up the front Evelyn was there and grasped the knot of his tie. "Your tie is crooked." was all she said before he kissed her nose and she smiled. "I know, it's time to go."

Rafe buttoned up the front of his uniform jacket, then took her hand. He started through the door, but not before he glanced behind him and took one last look at the bed. "Can we walk to this place, or do we need to take a cab?"

"It would be faster to take a cab."

He grinned at her. "Then we'll walk. It too nice of a mornin'." He moved her in front of him so he could close the door and took her hand again. They got to the street and began the walk that would take them to the cafe. As it had been the night before, they did not talk much. Rafe kept a firm grip on Evelyn's hand and she squeezed it. "I'm not going anywhere." 

He looked at her with an expression that was so serious. "I'll never leave you again, I swear."

She sighed and put her head against his shoulder. "Rafe, you may not have a choice if this war ever reaches us."

"Let's just hope it's a long time before it does." he said and kissed the top of her head.

Danny must have haunted the doorway as he waited for them, because as soon as the cafe came into view Evelyn saw him run up the street. He launched himself into the arms of his best friend and pounded his back. "Your alive, your okay!" he babbled and then punched him in the solar plexus. "Where the hell have you been? I was up all night lookin' for you. I got your telegram and then I didn't know where to look for you."

Rafe rubbed the spot where Danny had hit him. "I deserved that. I'm sorry Danny, I should have come lookin' for you. But I needed to find a place to stay and I needed to see Evelyn. I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry for hittin' you. I was just worried." Evelyn saw Danny glance at her. "But I can see I didn't need to."

Evelyn spoke up. "Let's find a table and get something to eat."

Rafe put one arm around Evelyn's waist and the other around Danny's shoulders as they walked the rest of the way to the cafe. A bell rang over the door as Danny opened it and found a table. The waitress came over, poured them each a cup of coffee and took their orders. All the while, the three of them talked. 

Rafe chose his words carefully as he told Danny what had happened to him in England and Evelyn wasn't sure if it was for Danny's benefit, or her's. Their orders came and fresh coffee was poured as Rafe found out about duty in Hawaii. "Sounds pretty soft." he said with a grin.

"Can't complain." Danny answered with his own grin. "You goin' to join the squadron?"

"That's my plan. Doolittle said he'd arrange it." Rafe told him and took a long sip of his coffee.

"Together again."

Rafe grinned at his best friend. " Have to find time to play some chicken."

Danny laughed out loud, but Evelyn missed the joke. "What's chicken?"

The two friends looked at each other, "You don't want to know." they said almost in unison.

"But I do." she said, just as she felt the floor vibrate. A few moments later some sounds came from the direction of the harbor that sounded something like a thump. Evelyn looked at her watch and it read 7:55.

Rafe looked at Danny. "Doesn't the Navy have Sunday's off?"

The thumps Evelyn heard became more frequent and suddenly something felt very wrong. Her feeling was confirmed when someone burst into the cafe. "We're being bombed! The Japs are bombing Pearl Harbor!" and he was gone.

The three looked at each other, not believing what they had just heard. They quickly got up from the table and Rafe went to the counter to pay the check. They got outside and looked toward the harbor, only to see billows of thick black smoke rise into the air. Rafe grabbed Evelyn's hand and they started to run. As they got closer, it became a madhouse and then came a terrific explosion with a concussion that nearly knocked the trio off of their feet. 

"What the hell was that?" Rafe said almost to himself. Someone who had just come up from the harbor heard him and said, "They sank the Arizona!! The goddamn Japs just sank the Arizona!!"


End file.
